Jonathan Merritt writes in his book, Jesus is Better Than You Imagined (2014):

The prophet Jeremiah says that every person is a plant, but we get to choose which kind of plant we want to be.  If I choose to trust in my efforts to control life, I become like a bush in the parched places of the desert: dry and brittle and lifeless.  But if I choose to place my confidence in the Lord, I become like a tree planted by a stream whose roots stretch into the water with supple fruit dangling from its limbs.

The image of a tree planted in riverfront real estate is a timely one for someone like me, who grows weary in waiting.  But a tree is always waiting, the river is on the move.  And so it is with God.

I’ve spent my life waiting, and I suspect the pattern won’t shift any time soon.  But I’ve changed along the way.  I’ve been learning to stay planted and stretch my roots deep into the water of God’s grace.  It’s a lesson that humans have been learning since the days of Noah.  And if the old sailor were alive now, I think he would tell me to trust that God is still working.  As it turns out, sometimes waiting isn’t waiting at all (p. 110).